Racism @ MindSay 
I have been seeing so much about race right now. I am getting tired of hearing it. I thought that we were a country (most of us anyways) who saw past the color of skin. I thought that was the battle that was almost dead?
It seems as though people of all races cannot get over the race card! Seriously people... Come on!!
That was and is still Jesus' greatest command... LOVE THY NEIGHBOR! He didn't just mean the other white guy that lives next door to you, or your fellow citizens in the black communities...not even did it mean just to love your family!! Jesus said that even a tax collector can do that!! If it is easy, expect everyone to do it. If it brings a challenge expect few to even try.
The sad part is that it is so easy to love people of every race, religion and creed. It isn't hard to see beneath their beliefs and differences because it is so easy to that we are all human, which means we all have hearts and blood, feelings and emotions, brothers and/or sisters, moms and dads.
We must try harder to see beyond race. We must try to be the smaller percentage who are travelling the path that is not well worn.
God's peace to you all.
My name is Johna playwright living and working in Somerville, Massachusetts. Most of my work deals with social issues like poverty, addiction, domestic violence and racism. One of my plays, “The Hill,” recounts the opening day of school in Boston they year forced busing was put into place in Charlestown. It deals with the residents of a white neighborhood venting their anger and frustration. Not having claim to much, they feel as if the little they do have is being taken away. The play ends in violence as anger, bigotry and fear take the place of logic and reason. Recent events, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, very near to where I live, namely, the arrest of prominent Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., brought to mind another play I wrote a few years back, called, “The Painter.” In that play, an Irish immigrant painter works for an older, African-American gentleman, who is a scholar and Pulitzer Prize winning author of a book on race. The play takes place in Lexington, Massachusetts. There is contention between the two and the play ends in murder, the painter killing the man. In his head, the painter sees the man, who asks the painter that if he, the man, was white, would the painter still have killed him. A question the painter does not answer. The painter asks the man that if he, the painter, was black, would the man still have treated him so harshly and unfairly, a question the man cannot answer. Two racists? Not on the surface, but under their clean, tidy, professional appearances, lies the ugliness of humanity. In the case of Gates, he asked the officer if he, Gates, was being arrested because the officer was white. Isn’t this racist? I do not want to hear anything about reverse racism…IT DOES NOT EXIST. Racism is racism, whether it be a police officer arresting a man because of his skin color or a man accusing the officer of “white” behavior. In an earlier draft of “The Painter,” was a discussion about who would win a Presidential election, a white woman or a black man. This was written long before Clinton and Obama decided to run. My answer then was a white woman. I did not think a black man could be elected. I was happily, ecstatically, proven wrong. But the arrest of Gates and the ensuing debate makes me realize that, despite the last election, ”The Painter,” is as timely and true today as is the “The Hill,” which is set in 1974. Sad, really, especially since the events occurred in liberal (some say, “bleeding heart,”) Cambridge, and also involved Harvard. The land of acceptance and tolerance. (I have heard a lot of grumbling from some about the superiority of Harvard faculty, which adds a layer of classism to the whole unfortunate event.) This event never should have happened and it did, and it makes it clear to me, and to many others, that racism is alive and well and thriving. Keep the conversation alive, we obviously still have a LONG way to go. John can be reached at www.johnsheaplays.com
Conservative Free Republic blog in free speech flap after racial slurs directed at Obama children
This photo of U.S. President Barrack Obama's daughter Malia, wearing a peace-symbol t-shirt touched off a storm of epithet-laced comments on the conservative 'Free Republic' blog Photograph by: Remo Casilli , Reuters
"A typical street whore." "A bunch of ghetto thugs." "Ghetto street trash." "Wonder when she will get her first abortion."
These are a small selection of some of the racially-charged comments posted to the conservative 'Free Republic' blog Thursday, aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama's 11-year-old daughter Malia after she was photographed wearing a t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.
The thread was accompanied by a photo of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that featured the caption, "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds."
Though this may sound like the sort of thing one might read on an Aryan Nation or white power website, they actually appeared on what is commonly considered one of the prime online locations for U.S. Conservative grassroots political discussion and organizing - and for a short time, the comments seemed to have the okay of site administrators.
Moderators of the blog left the comments - and commenters - in place until a complaint was lodged by a writer doing research on the conservative movement, almost a full day later.
"Could you imagine what world leaders must be thinking seeing this kind of street trash and that we paid for this kind of street ghetto trash to go over there?" wrote one commenter.
"They make me sick .... The whole family... mammy, pappy, the free loadin' mammy-in-law, the misguided chillin', and especially 'lil cuz... This is not the America I want representin' my peeps," wrote another.
Such was the onslaught of derision on the site that the person who originally complained about the slurs, a Kristin N., claims only one comment in the first hundred posted actually criticized the remarks as inappropriate.
A note on the front of the blog reads, "Free Republic does not advocate or condone racism, violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government," but one comment on the thread read, "This disgusting display makes me more and more eager for the revolution," while another read, "I never actually wnated [sic] to be a pistol before but..."
After attention from other blogs, the thread was suppressed and placed under review, but before long it was returned to the site intact, and attracted a new series of racial slurs when the original complaint email was posted publicly to the site, with the sender's email address intact.
"The writer has a point," wrote site owner Jim Thompson sarcastically. "We should steer clear of Obama's children. They can't help it if their old man is an American-hating Marxist pig."
"I agree Jim," wrote commenter, by the nickname NoobRep. "The kids didn't pick their commie pinko pansy of a father. Nor did they choose to be put into the spotlight. But Obama/Soetoro is fair game and so is his witch of a wife."
"Poor kids. I hope they're not 'punished with a baby'," wrote another. "Hopefully they won't deal cocaine like the Kenyan."
"DIRTBAGS! All of them. Our [White House] is now a joke to the rest of the world. We have no respect and this is not going to turn out well, mark my words. We will be hit, and much worse than last time. We are now seen as weak and vulnerable. Ghetto and Chicago thugs have taken over."
Only after significant negative attention from a host of left wing political blogs did the maintainers of the Free Republic site place the thread under review for a second time, before finally pulling it.
In the wake of the controversy, some Free Republic posters complained about the vitriol.
One poster by the name of "fullchroma" wrote, "To Jim Thompson: The recent uptick here in racist vitriol, aimed at Barrack, Michelle and their children has made me wonder if I belong. My objection to Obama has nothing to do with skin tone. Is the ugly stereotype of Conservative racism true?"
Another, going by the name of TChris, wrote, "Free Republic is a political discussion forum. It SHOULD be beneath us as a group to stoop to such juvenile tactics as I see increasing here lately. Do we REALLY have to insult Mrs. Obama's appearance like a clique of nasty 14-year-old girls?"
But such opinions were not shared by all. Said Roses of Sharon, "Poor libs .... Too late, the battle has been joined."
______________________________________________________________________
February 16, 2009
To the American Bahá'í community
Dearly loved Friends,
Your National Spiritual Assembly has reflected on the significance of
the outcome of the recent presidential election in light of the Bahá'í
teachings about the oneness of humanity and their compelling vision of
the destiny of America, and we wish to share the following thoughts.
The election of an African American for the first time to the
presidency of the United States is an event that transcends partisan
politics. It clearly marks an important new stage in the social
evolution of the American people and is an achievement that all
Bahá'ís can wholeheartedly celebrate. The citizens of the United
States have with this action, as much as with any in the long struggle
to combat racial prejudice-the "most vital and challenging issue"
confronting the nation-demonstrated their will to embrace more fully
the unifying spirit of the age.
The many statements of 'Abdu'l-Bahá [son of Founder, Bahá'u'lláh*]
during His sojourn in this country nearly a century ago,
praising America's material achievements, her spirit of enterprise,
and her democratic form of government, still inspire us. Yet
He was also uncompromising in His assessment that our nation,
sunk in the morass of engrained racial prejudice, materialism,
and accelerating moral decay, would go through a long and difficult
period of trials that would gradually cleanse these various impurities
from its social fabric, thereby preparing it to realize its ultimate
destiny to "lead all nations spiritually."
Concerning racial issues, much progress has been made since the
beloved Master ['Abdu'l-Bahá**] visited these shores [in 1912 CE].
Undoubtedly, it is in large measure a credit to the courage,
leadership, and sacrifice of countless individuals, the persistent
efforts of organizations of civil society and of various religious
institutions, and the bold actions of judicial and legislative
bodies that such progress has been possible. The Bahá'í
community also played a role, having striven earnestly for nearly
a century to uphold by word and deed, in every region of the
country, the pivotal principle of the oneness of humankind.
But there can be no sense of complacency nor any rest. The ideals of
justice, equality, and unity have yet to be fully realized; the roots
of racial prejudice are old, deep, and widespread. No single victory,
political or otherwise, however groundbreaking, is sufficient to
remove conditions so intractable and institutionalized.
Bahá'ís believe that the ultimate solution lies in the application of
spiritual principle in the lives of individuals, in approaches to
community-building, and in the operation of social institutions.
People of every age and background can increase their individual and
collective capacity to further progress through a learning process
that is founded upon essential truths contained in the teachings of
Bahá'u'lláh. Promising patterns of activity, now emerging in every
part of the country and throughout the world, should give us the
confidence to strive with even greater urgency to address the needs of
humanity.
Our ultimate success in this will depend, as the Universal House of
Justice [the Bahá'í International, democratically elected, governing body]
recently reminded us, "on the qualities that distinguish your
service to the peoples of the world. So free must be your thoughts and
actions of any trace of prejudice-racial, religious, economic,
national, tribal, class, or cultural-that even the stranger sees in
you loving friends. So high must be your standard of excellence and so
pure and chaste your lives that the moral influence you exert
penetrates the consciousness of the wider community. Only if you
demonstrate the rectitude of conduct to which the writings of the
Faith call every soul will you be able to struggle against the myriad
forms of corruption, overt and subtle, eating at the vitals of
society. Only if you perceive honor and nobility in every human
being-this independent of wealth or poverty-will you be able to
champion the cause of justice."
Bahá'ís of every race and ethnicity rejoice with our countrymen in
this significant step forward. We remain aware of the challenges ahead
and are unswervingly committed to facing and overcoming them. We march
forward with unshakable confidence that God's purpose for His
children will not be thwarted, and that Bahá'u'lláh's statement of
spiritual reality will be fully realized: "The earth is but one
country, and mankind its citizens."
With loving Bahá'í greetings,
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
BAHÁ'ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES
* Bahá'u'lláh translates into English as "The Glory of God"
** 'Abdu'l-Bahá translates into English as "The Servant of Glory/Baha"
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